Angels’ Pineiro still looking for right answers

DETROIT – The results have been painful. But Joel Pineiro insists that is the only pain.

"No. Not at all," the Angels right-hander said when asked if a recurrence of his shoulder problems from earlier this season might be at the root of his recent struggles. "I wish I could use that as an excuse. But, no, my shoulder is fine."

Pineiro's arm slot and velocity both dropped during spring training when a knot in the back of his shoulder became a problem. He opened the season on the DL and missed the first four weeks.

There has been no drop in velocity recently – he was at his usual 87-88 mph during Thursday's 3 1/3 innings against the Tigers. But Angels manager Mike Scioscia has mentioned arm-slot issues as part of the problem at times over the past four starts during which Pineiro has allowed 20 runs on 32 hits and six walks in just 16 innings.

"We're on top of it," Scioscia said. "(Pitching coach) Mike Butcher, the training staff and, most importantly, JP believe this is mechanically driven.

"As we talked to him the last couple starts, we asked if he was OK physically and he assures us he is. He'll get an extra day (because of an off day Monday) before his next start. ... We've got every confidence that Joel is going to find it."

Pineiro insisted he did find some of it Thursday, despite the poor results.

"I thought I made good pitches today. Balls found holes," he said. "But for the most part, the ball was down except for maybe two pitches – the one to (Austin) Jackson (a foul ball) and the one to (Miguel) Cabrera (a 428-foot home run).

"It's frustrating. The guys set me up with a good lead (7-2 in the fourth) and I blew it."

Pineiro's struggles are coming at an inopportune time for him. His two-year, $16 million contract with the Angels ends this season. He has not made any case for an extension recently nor is he positioning himself well for free agency.

"I want to pitch good because we're in a pennant race and I want to help the team win, not for myself," Pineiro said. "If I pitch good, it's going to be good for the team and it'll be good for me."

CATCHING COMBO

Wednesday's no-hitter appears to have changed little about Scioscia's plan to parcel out playing time at catcher.

In his past two starts, Bobby Wilson has been behind the plate for rookie Tyler Chatwood's best performance and Santana's no-hitter.

"He's going to play," Scioscia said of Wilson, who has made only 10 starts this season, three in the 10 games since rookie Hank Conger was demoted to Triple-A. Conger made 42 starts before being sent down.

"From a defensive standpoint, I don't think you could ask any more from those guys than what they are doing. They're bringing a gameplan into the game, executing that gameplan, receiving the ball well."

Wilson has not played enough to determine how much of an offense upgrade over Jeff Mathis (who lifted his average to .190 with a 2-for-4 day Thursday) he could represent. Wilson is 8 for 44 (.182) this season and a .212 career hitter in fewer than 200 plate appearances. But Scioscia only offered "stamina issues" for a catcher who has not caught very often through the first 100 games of the season as an explanation for why he would hesitate to start Wilson too often.

"Bobby's working his way into his sea legs," Scioscia said. "Right now, it (the playing time) is going to be shared. I have a lot of confidence in Bobby's defense.

"They're both doing an excellent job on the defensive end. ... We do need some more offense back there. Obviously, there's a difference between hitting .240 and hitting .180."

FRIDAY

Angels RHP Tyler Chatwood (6-6, 3.64) is scheduled to start against Tigers RHP Rick Porcello (10-6, 4.67). Game time is 4:05 p.m. and it will be broadcast on FSW, KLAA/830 AM and KWKW/1330 AM in Spanish.